Mattias Öhlund

[Szechwan]

Oh man, I loved watching Olund growing up. One of my favourite players.

Very honest, played hard, and if he took enough whacks in front of the net he'd turn into an absolute beast.

 

[Hit the post]

Oh man, I loved watching Olund growing up. One of my favourite players.

Very honest, played hard, and if he took enough whacks in front of the net he'd turn into an absolute beast.

He had some epic battles with Iginla (who was his prime during this time as well). Power vs Power!

 

[ginner classic]

The first season I remember watching hockey was 79-80. I remeber Snepts, Lanz, Halward et al. Like many though, I really grew up with the 90's teams. Ohlund was far and away the best defencenan from 1980 onwards. Dennis Kearns may have been an early challenger but I never saw his best seasons.

 

[Wisp]

honesty, I don't think Ohlund objectively stands up. Relied too much on clutch and grab of the era he played in.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Always thought Reinhart was underrated.

Loved Ohlund, loved Lumme, but the fact they're in the conversation for Best Canucks Dman Ever tells you how crap our d has been for 45 years.

 

[Hit the post]

Always thought Reinhart was underrated.

Loved Ohlund, loved Lumme, but the fact they're in the conversation for Best Canucks Dman Ever tells you how crap our d has been for 45 years.

Ohlund was an elite shutdown D at his peak.

Lars Lindgren was more the classic 'clutch & grab' NHL style D (as it was then).

 

[Edo]

Ohlund provided everything you would ever want from a defensemen. Still can't believe that we had him, Jovanovski, and Salo, all together at one time.

 

[MikeK]

Ohlund provided everything you would ever want from a defensemen. Still can't believe that we had him, Jovanovski, and Salo, all together at one time.

Had Salo and Jovo been able to stay healthy we could have had something special here.

 

[F A N]

Ohlund was on his way to greatness as soon as he was drafted. Considered potentially the best Dman in the draft, he was considered a potential steal at the time. He soon became regarded as one of the best prospects outside of the NHL and then he didn't disappoint with the best rookie season a Canucks Dman has had since I don't know when. Had he not suffered the eye injury Ohlund would have been better offensively. Still, he was for years the most valuable Dman on the Canucks. A warrior who rarely misses games, even when his skating slowed down he found a way to defend effectively. In his prime, Ohlund was a smooth skating two way Dman who was a dangerous hitter. He was capable of stepping up and delivering those big open ice hits that we see less of now.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

Ohlund provided everything you would ever want from a defensemen. Still can't believe that we had him, Jovanovski, and Salo, all together at one time.

I can't believe how no one talks about that D-core more. Besides the WCE, that's all our team was.

 

[kaczor]

He had some epic battles with Iginla (who was his prime during this time as well). Power vs Power!

This. Absolutely fantastic battles those two had.
I miss Ohlund... pure class.

 

[absolute garbage]

Ohlund was the strongest guy I've ever seen. Just a natural beast. That kind of unassuming "dad strength" that people nowadays meme about, but when you really take a look and focus you see just how massive the guy is.

You can't just go to gym to obtain it. It's genetics AND decades of hard work. Got to have them both.

Great player too of course. But that's the one thing that stood up for me more than anything. Even few years after retiring, he still looked like an ox. Looked like he could break Linden in half if he wanted to.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Seems that he liked to hit.

 

[Ace of Hades]

If only he didn't suffer that serious eye injury in preseason. He would been a norris type potential defenceman

 

[Hit the post]

If only he didn't suffer that serious eye injury in preseason. He would been a norris type potential defenceman

Even with only one good eye - he was STILL pretty good (again, elite defensively at his peak - while still capable of popping in goals from the point)

 

[iloveloov*]

It was a big shame that he didn't retire a Canuck.

If Mattias Ohlund and Willie Mitchell were around in 2011 instead of Keith Ballard and Andrew Alberts they would have won in the finals.

 

[RobertKron]

It was a big shame that he didn't retire a Canuck.

If Mattias Ohlund and Willie Mitchell were around in 2011 instead of Keith Ballard and Andrew Alberts they would have won in the finals.

They'd also have added a couple million in cap hit to a team that had like eight dollars in cap space.

 

[BrockBoeser6]

Seems that he liked to hit.

That hit on Marchand puts a smile on my face. Those are all some devastating hits though. I miss Ohlund

 

[Danrik]

The way he would just step up at the blue line and crush people was amazing.

 

[Zombotron]

öhlund

ölli

it is written

[/bowie horvat]

 

[Win One Before I Die]

Ohlund and Jovocop were my favourite era of defense.

Ohlund would out no where decimate people at the blue line.

 

[Free Edler]

They don't make d-men like Ohlund anymore. My favourite Canuck of all-time.

If we're talking about the most skilled defenceman to ever play for the Canucks, however, it's really a two-man battle: Paul Reinhart and Jeff Brown.

 

[iloveloov*]

They'd also have added a couple million in cap hit to a team that had like eight dollars in cap space.

They'd have taken low AAV big term contracts or I'm sure some guys would have conveniently gone LTI when needed. The G wiz had 99 problems but cap space wasn't one.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

man i loved matty. the only word to describe him would be viking. if not for the eye injury we had a poor man's denis potvin on our hands.

Ohlund provided everything you would ever want from a defensemen. Still can't believe that we had him, Jovanovski, and Salo, all together at one time.

we briefly had ohlund, jovo, aucoin, and mccabe. how's that for a young core of future all-stars? one trade was bad, the other very very good.

Ohlund was much more consistent throughout his Canucks career.

Taking nothing away from Edler though.

I also think Lumme is behind Ohlund. Loved Lumme's game though.

It is interesting that off and on throughout his Canucks tenure, Lumme was a primary victim of the Canuck boo birds ('doesn't shoot enough on the PP', 'holds on to the puck too long', 'tries to get too cute with the puck', 'too many turnovers in the defensive zone', 'not physical enough' etc...)

Kind of tells you all you need to know about the hockey intellect of the average hockey fan who otherwise thinks he's/she's an expert.

well hard not to catch some boos when you're paired with the original boo magnet. yeah, kind of unfair to take it out in lumme, who was a good 1a, for not being the true number one that 25 years later we still have never had. but if he'd been a defensive 1a instead, like hamhuis, he would have been more appreciated.

 

[Hit the post]

I also think Lumme is behind Ohlund. Loved Lumme's game though.

It is interesting that off and on throughout his Canucks tenure, Lumme was a primary victim of the Canuck boo birds ('doesn't shoot enough on the PP', 'holds on to the puck too long', 'tries to get too cute with the puck', 'too many turnovers in the defensive zone', 'not physical enough' etc...)

Kind of tells you all you need to know about the hockey intellect of the average hockey fan who otherwise thinks he's/she's an expert.

I'm afraid to say you can count me as one of those ignorant fans who probably booed Lumme more than once during this time. It wasn't until later that I grew to appreciate what we had.